I never understood why all these dating shows featured sexy young people. I mean, I know sex sells, but let's be honest, most of the dating world isn't under 24 with a perfect body. I also understand that I'm in the minority here (I was the only 6-year-old staying up late on Saturday nights to watch The Golden Girls, so maybe my idea of love and lust is a bit different from others). But I mention all this to explain why ABC's The Golden Bachelor, which premiered September 28, is right up my alley.
The premise is just like the regular Bachelor, a bunch of single women vie for the attention of the bachelor, yada, yada, but in this version, they're all in their golden years.
Gerry Turner, a 72-year-old widower, is this season's bachelor, and he's looking for a high-energy woman of 60 years or older. (And can we be real for a second? When was the last time you saw an older man on television actually want to find a partner his own age? It's like in Hollywood the range for "your own age" is 30 years, give or take another decade.)
Even though it's so very rare to see older people looking for love on TV or in movies, we have been seeing it a little bit in recent years. Of course, there's Max's And Just Like That, which essentially is our modern-day version of The Golden Girls, just with way more money, and Netflix's Grace and Frankie, which spent seven seasons letting Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin do pretty much whatever they wanted, as is their right.
But beyond that, if you're single and over the age of 60 on TV, you're either divorced or widowed, likely with a version of this line thrown in to really hammer home the message: "I've been married, I've done the love and sex thing, I'm over it." But why? Why do we do this to characters and the talented actors who play them in entertainment when we know in real life there are so many seniors out there looking for love?
Divorce rates keep going up, and marriage rates keep going down. It feels like pretty soon nobody will be getting married because hell, we just don't want to deal with the paperwork. But that doesn't mean we don't want love, companionship, and sex. If we're going to diversify entertainment in equitable ways—as we should—why are we so afraid of portraying an entire generation of people in the ways in which they're actually living? Especially when older people are still paying for movie tickets in theaters and watching the shows on network television (which I haven't done in years).
If we're talking about when in your life is an ideal time to date, frankly, any point after 50 seems like a dream. Think about it: you've probably already been around the block a few times. You know who you are and what you like. You've likely had enough encounters that you know what to do and (hopefully) what not to do.
You've probably worked a long time and might actually have some savings to speak of, so you likely aren't going to a burger joint for a first date. And, when it comes to actual intimacy, frankly I'd rather have a partner my own age understand why I can't do the thing they really wanna do because, well, I'm a little older now and we just ate, and my body doesn't work that way anymore, thank you very much, now shut up and let's watch Dateline instead.
Basically, what I'm saying is, let's diversify these dating shows. The Golden Bachelor should be a great catalyst for a ton of other shows to feature older people looking for love. Or even older people doing a whole assortment of other things on TV, existing as fully-formed people the way we allow younger TV characters to behave.
This age barrier in entertainment that doesn't officially exist (but come on, it totally does) needs to be dismantled because older people have so much to offer. I want to see more older people on dating shows, on Survivor, on RuPaul's Drag Race. Youth and sex might sell, but when you want something done right (including yourself, if you know what I mean) look to someone who has that lived experience, ya feel me?
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H. Alan Scott is a writer/comedian based in Los Angeles. He's appeared on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, Ellen, CNN, Fusion and MTV.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
A writer/comedian based in Los Angeles. Host of the weekly podcast Parting Shot with H. Alan Scott, ... Read more
